StrangeSights

• Insects already form part of the diet of an estimated two billion people but they may well be on even more menus in the future as experts look to alternative means of feeding people. The Food and Agriculture Organisation says that insects (and there are about a million known species) could provide a “readily available source of nutritious and protein-rich food”. To whet your appetite, the most consumed insects at present include beetles, caterpillars, bees, wasps and ants, and grasshoppers, locusts and crickets. But there are many issues that need to be dealt with first - including legal hurdles against eating insects in many countries. For more, see www.fao.org.

• A Canadian astronaut has created the first music video recorded in space, singing the David Bowie song, Space Oddity, while free floating inside the International Space Station. Chris Hadfield made the video, which has gone viral, a few days before he returned to earth after his six month stint in space. The astronaut did alter some of Bowie’s lyrics to better suit his circumstances.

• A Zimbabwean man surprised mourners when he reportedly came back to life. One of those at his funeral noticed one of the man’s legs twitching and called an ambulance. The man, who had suffered from long illness before his funeral, has no recollection of the event.

• A four-year-old boy has reportedly been elected mayor of a town in Minnesota in the US. Dorset’s mayor is apparently chosen through the process of drawing a name out of a hat and this year it was Mayor Robert ‘Bobbie’ Tufts turn. The good news is that Mayor Tufts apparently does like talking to the townspeople.

• The dogs recently hit the surf in California for the 7th annual Loews Surf Dog Competition. This year saw more than 50 dogs showing their moves on the waves at Imperial Beach in San Diego - they are judged in a range of categories including small dogs, large dogs and tandems (sounds like a page out of Dr Seuss’ Go Dogs Go!) - as well as the setting of a number of new world records including one for the most dogs ever to ride on one board - 14.

• The Welsh community of Monmouth - famous for being the birthplace of King Henry V - has become the world’s first “Wikipedia town”. The move, dubbed Monmouthpedia, means Wikipedia now hosts more than 700 articles about the town and means visitors can use their phones to scan barcodes at places like historical sites, schools, museums and pubs to bring up relevant articles in a range of languages.

• The word ‘bogan’ has reportedly officially entered the Oxford English Dictionary. The dictionary’s June list of new word entries has apparently included the word which it defines as being Australian and New Zealand colloquial “depreciative term for unfashionable, uncouth, or unsophisticated person, esp. of low social status”.

• The UK might be preparing to host the Olympic Games later this year but some events, like shin-kicking, the wheelbarrow race and the sack race have already started. The annual Cotswold Olimpicks date from 1612 - meaning they celebrated their 400th anniversary this year. Shin-kicking is the star event at the games, held near the town of Chipping Camden, and involves competitors trying to kick each other in the shins and bring down their opponent. This year’s world champion was Zac Warren from the town of Pershore.

• Ever had that experience when a dog chases you for while as you ride a bike? A Chinese hound has reportedly taken it the next step by following cyclists competing in a road cycle race for more than 1,000 miles over 20 days. Xiao Sa, who has since become something of a sensation and now has her own ‘microblog’, started following the cyclists after one of them gave her some food. The 1,000 mile journey included climbs over at least 10 mountains.

• A robotic catfish called Charlie, a dead rat used to transport secret messages and a room in which visitors can try their hand at spycraft by negotiating a series of moving laserbeams are all part of a display of spy-related artifacts in New York City. SPY: The Secret World of Espionage is a new exhibition at Discovery Times Square features historic and modern gadgets culled from agencies including the CIA and FBI. Items on show also include a collapsible motorbike for use behind enemy lines in World War II and a camel saddle used by one of the first CIA agents in Afghanistan after the 9/11 attacks. The exhibition runs until March next year.

• Scientists have reportedly said they are 95 per cent sure that the mythical snow-monster, the yeti, is living in Siberia in Russia. A recent two day expedition in the region found “irrefutable evidence” of the existence of the yeti, it was claimed by the Kemerovo government which oversees the region. This included footprints and hairs. The conference had attracted scientists and enthusiasts from as far afield as Canada and the US, Sweden and Estonia. The yeti, also known as the abominable snowman and sasquatch, are also said to exist in the Himalayas and in North America.

• Don’t worry about trying to get the ball back. News has swept around the world of a golf course in Brisbane which has a rather unusual hazard - half a dozen bull sharks in the course’s 21 hectare lake. The shark’s, then juveniles, reportedly moved into the lake at the Carbrook Golf Course when the nearby Logan River flooded in the 1990s. The golfers are apparently unfazed - the club now hosts a monthly competition called the Shark Lake Challenge.

• Getting the silent treatment for your local traffic director? It could be because, like in the Venezuelan capital of Caracas, they’ve reportedly employed 120 professional mimes to take on the job. Wearing clown outfits, the mimes were charged with reprimanding bad drivers in a bid to encourage politeness on the road. And they’re apparently not alone with mimes being put to good use in controlling traffic and pedestrians in Brazil and Colombia.

• As pranks go, it was pretty elaborate. Staff at Legoland California reportedly decided to prank their boss by swapping his real-life Volvo SUV - parked in the company car park - for a lifesize replica made completely out of Lego. The model was made from more than 201,000 Lego bricks.

• A US man has come up with a way of both spending time with his baby and getting some exercise. Joshua Levitt was reportedly lifting his baby (now an eight-year-old) up and down in an attempt to soothe her when he realised, in his words, he was “multi-tasking” by getting some exercise at the same time. He’s now developed an entire exercise routine - described in his book Baby Barbells - which includes a ‘baby bench press’ and ‘lullaby lunges’.

• Ah, the years slip by so fast. Yes, it was time for the annual Wife-Carrying World Championships in Finland last week and once again, Finns Kristiina Haapanen and Taisto Miettinen reportedly took the prize, defeating 46 other couples to win their third successive championship. The event, which takes place over a 253.5 metre course featuring two dry and one water obstacle, traces its roots back to 19th century bandit who stole food and girls from villages.

• The heart symbol (meaning to love) has entered the Oxford English Dictionary as one of more than 45,000 new words and meanings added to the latest version of what is considered by many to be the most authoritative English language dictionary in the world. Among the other new entries are “Tinfoil hat” (used with allusion to the belief that such a hat will protect the wearer from mind control or surveillance); the 10 or five or one “second rule” (allowing for the eating of a delicious morsel that has fallen to the floor, provided that it is retrieved within the specified period of time), and “IMHO” (in my humble opinion) as well as Australianisms “flat white” (a style of espresso drink with finely textured foamed milk) and “tragic” (a ‘boring or socially inept person, especially one with an obsessive interest or hobby).

• Finding the walk between golf holes a bit hard lately? Forget the buggy, a course in Germany has introduced a 150 metre travelator to take golfers up an admittedly rather steep hill from the first green to the second tee. Known as the “magic carpet”, the travelator at the course in Schloss Auel Golf Club near Cologne reportedly works in all weather and starts automatically when a player - and buggy - hop on board. The introduction of the travelator has apparently met with the approval of the (one imagines, rather tired) club’s members.

• It’s a busy life being a member of the police SWAT team in Beijing so there’s little time to find that someone special. To give officers a helping hand, police chiefs reportedly launched a match-making service at an annual Police Open Day recently, posting pictures of 54 unmarried recruits on large boards in a police station in the hope of catching the eye of some of the visitors. Such was the interest, police have already vowed to repeat the service in the future.

• Regular visitors might recall reading about Seattle’s Guardian and the existence of ‘Real Life Super Heroes’ in the US some weeks ago. It seems the trend is catching - now comes news of self-appointed ’superheroes’ in the UK. Foremost among them is The Statesman (aka bank worker Scott Cooke), who hits the streets of Birmingham with justice on his mind (and, reportedly, a mobile phone in case things turn nasty). But there are apparently others - as many as 16 according to one report - bearing names such as Black Arrow, Lionheart and the even-more-oddly-monikered, Vague. No word yet on any arch villains.

• Priests were seen hitting the slopes in Poland earlier this month to take part in an annual ski championship for the clergy. With many dressed in clerical robes and collars, they were competing in the Pope John Paul II Cup. The annual event, which includes several different skiing disciplines, was held at the ski resort of Wisla. The former pope was apparently a keen skier and a regular visitor to ski slopes in Italy.

• A selection of some of the oddest spying devices you’ve ever seen has gone on display in an online gallery posted by the CIA Museum on photo-sharing website Flickr. The weird devices developed by the US organisation include everything from a robot fish and a mosquito-like “unmanned aerial vehicle” to a lady’s compact which, if viewed from a certain angle, reveals a hidden code, and a camera designed to be carried by a pigeon.

• The promises contained in the song the Twelve Days of Christmas cost more than they used to. The annual Christmas Price Index shows that buying all of the items mentioned in the song - everything from a partridge in a pear tree to seven swans-a-swimming and 12 drummers drumming - will set you back $US23,439, up 9.2 per cent or $US1,974 on the previous year. The jump is the second highest in the index’s history and is largely attributed to the rising cost of gold which rose 30 per cent over the year. Created by financial company PNC Wealth Management, the index has been running for 27 years.

• We know how it goes. You see the parking ticket on your window and open it with trepidation to see how much you owe…only to find that “you’ve parked beautifully”. Londoner Will Sandy has launched what he calls the Fine Parking Company which aims to bring a smile to people’s faces - a reversal of the usual emotional response people have when opening a ticket.

• Still in the UK, and a Cornish village soccer team, Madron, had been given the label of ‘worst in the UK’ after losing 11 games in a row including a 55-0 thrashing. Manager Alan Davenport has reportedly said that despite only kicking two goals during their 11 games (and conceding 227), morale in the team remained high.